The invention relates to methods of installing bathtubs and a template therefor.
A bathtub may be considered as having two components, a bowl which is the part of the bath to hold the water and a deck which forms a flat shoulder around the bowl. Usually these two components are integral and merge at the top of the bowl. When a bathtub is placed against a wall, it is the deck portion which will abut the wall.
A common type of bathtub is generally rectangular in plan view, having two long sides and two short sides. A user would usually sit in the tub along the longer dimension with feet at one end and body and head at the other end. The fittings, such as the faucets, the overflow spout and the drain spout would usually be at the foot end of the tub (hereinafter some referred to as the valve end since it is the end nearest the plumbing for the drain and faucets). The other end is referred to as the head end. Usually bathtubs are placed longwise against a wall so that at least one of the two long sides is adjacent a wall. Usually the other long side is open, and not near a wall, to permit easy access to the tub. The long side which is adjacent a wall is referred to as the back side.
Some bathtubs present special problems of replacement. For example, older bathtubs may be of iron and set against at least one wall in the bathroom. Thus the old bath cannot be removed without damaging at least one wall. This seriously increases the work required and the cost to replace the bathtub. One way around this problem is to leave the existing bathtub in place and put the new bathtub inside it. Usually the parts of the old tub around the drain hole and overflow hole are cut away to make room for corresponding fittings for use with the new bathtub. It is usually preferable to keep the old plumbing fixtures such as the drain and the pipes leading to the faucets.
A problem with using the frame of an older bathtub is that the new tub must be of similar, even smaller dimensions to fit into the old tub and usually the new tub ends up being smaller than the old tub. Since old tubs are often smaller than the sizes which are preferred by today""s standards, any size reduction is a disadvantage. Also, it is usually difficult to level the new tub since it must necessarily take its configuration from the old tub frame.
Another problem is to xe2x80x9ccentrexe2x80x9d the new bathtub. Centring the bathtub means to make sure it is positioned so that the new outflow and overflow holes will fit with the old drain system. Most of the old tub is kept in order to be able to xe2x80x9ccentrexe2x80x9d the old tub.
There has now been found an improved method of renovating an old bath and a template to assist in centring a new bath in an old tub.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a template for renovating a first bathtub connected to an existing drain by cutting a hole in the first bathtub and inserting a second bathtub having a bowl, a deck and a drain hole, the template comprising: a reference frame; a drain locating member movable in relation to the frame; a level indicating means to indicate verticality of the drain locating member, a member contact point on the frame for contact with the drain locating member; a stencil means on the frame corresponding to at least a part of an outline of the rim of the bowl of the second bathtub; wherein the contact point and the stencil means are arranged so that when the drain locating member is vertical and in contact with the contact point, cutting the outline of the first bathtub according to the stencil will provide a hole which when the second bathtub is inserted will bring the drain hole adjacent with the existing drain.
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of replacing a first bathtub having a bowl and a deck and connected to an existing drain by a second bathtub having a bowl, a deck and a drain hole which method comprises: cutting a hole in the first bathtub, the hole being large enough to accommodate the bowl of the second bathtub and to remove substantially all of the bowl of the first bathtub; disconnecting the first bathtub from the existing drain; removing the portion of the first bathtub cut by the hole including substantially all of the bowl thereof; inserting the second bathtub into the hole so that the drain hole is adjacent the existing drain.
The first bathtub is usually the old bathtub and the second bathtub is usually a new bathtub.
The template comprises a frame. A sheet of wood such as plywood is suitable. The frame only needs to provide a fixed reference for certain measurements and arrangements. The frame is for positioning on top of the old bathtub.
Adapted to cooperate with the frame is a drain locating member. This may be a stick or tube or other straight member. The drain locating member cooperates with the frame for example by having a hole in the frame, when it is a plywood sheet for example, through which the drain locating member can slide up and down and left to right. The drain locating member must be long enough to reach the drain.
The level indicating means is conveniently a bull""s eye level affixed to the top of the drain locating member. With the aid of the level, and keeping a bottom end or the drain locating member in the drain, the drain locating member can be ensured to be vertical.
The member contact point is a reference point on the frame. It is arranged so that by assuring the drain locating member is vertical and in contact with the member contact point, the stencil means will enable marking a hole which when cut will allow the new bathtub to be correctly positioned with drain hole adjacent the existing drain. Conveniently, there is at least one hole carefully located in the frame through which the drain locating member can slide up and down (with a little extra room for a small angular movement to facilitate locating the existing drain and bringing the drain locating member to a vertical position). The member contact point on the frame would then be any point on the rim of that hole which can contact the drain locating member for proper positioning of the stencil means. If the hole is too small the drain locating member will not be able to move freely. If the hole is too large, then there may be too much variation in the placement of the stencil for producing a properly placed hole for proper placement of the drain hole.
Stencil means in the frame enable marking the old bathtub so that it may be properly cut to accommodate the new bathtub. Thus the stencil represents the widest cross-section of the bowl of the new bathtub so that when the old bathtub is cut according to the stencil, a hole is formed which will accommodate the bowl portion of the new bathtub. The deck of the new bathtub will then be above the deck of the old bathtub.
The hole in the frame (to accommodate the drain locating member) together with the stencil, represent fixed reference points with regard to the new bathtub. Thus when the drain locating member is vertical, as indicated by the level, and while it is level, the old bathtub is marked according to the stencil, then when the old bathtub is cut as marked, and the new bathtub inserted, the drain hole of the new tub will be correctly positioned for connection to the existing drain.
The template preferably has other attachments. It is preferred that the template has vertically adjustable mounting means at each corner. Such adjusting means may be a screw threaded bolt so that the head will rest on the deck of the old bathtub and the thread will pass through a nut attached to the template at a corner. By screwing the bolt up and down, the height of that corner may be varied in relation to the old bathtub deck. By having such an adjustable means at each corner, the template can be adjusted to be substantially level. By measuring the length of the bolts at each corner, it is then possible to know the height of support inserts to put on the old deck to ensure that the new bathtub will be level.
It is also preferred to have horizontal positioning means along the sides of the template adjacent any existing walls. Such horizontal positioning means may be a screw threaded bolt attached to the template by a nut so that screwing the bolt in or out extends or retracts the bolt with relation to a side of the template. Thus when the template is level, and positioned correctly, the horizontal positioning means at each of the two ends adjacent a wall can be screwed out until the head of the bolt touches the wall. When the wall is touched, the length of the bolt extending beyond the template gives a measurement by which a deck of the new bathtub can be cut for a snug fit to that wall. Such horizontal positioning means may be on all four sides although usually not more than three sides of the new bathtub would need to be flush with adjacent walls.
A new bathtub to replace an old bathtub is preferably a bathtub with a large deck to accommodate any renovation situation. Such a bathtub might be, for example, a luxury acrylic soaker tub reinforced with fibreglass. Most old steel bathtubs have a water depth of about 10.5 inches whereas such a luxury bathtub may have water depths of 11.75 inches to 13 inches and even up to or greater than 17 inches. The deck, is the flat horizontal top surface, above and outside the tub, which is intended to abut any adjacent walls. The deck provides protection from water entering between the bathtub and the wall and collecting under the tub. New bathtubs for retrofitting old bathtubs, therefore preferably have a large deck which will be cut back to fit the particular dimensions of the new location.